gray

21 June

thank you for your nice comment! I’ll make a tutorial on collars, but I hope I did it the right way. Mostly I sew things as I suggest it would be right, and when it comes out in a good way, it’s OK. Otherwise I try it again.

7 July

dearest gray! thank you for the tipp with the czech shop (this i really know allready :-) but i have not knowen about the fleamarket on hermannstrasse. when is that and where exactly?? do you know “berger stoffe” in potsdamer strasse?? (see also at www.gebrueder-berger.de) this is my fabric-haven and eventhough you do not get much for 2 euros, most of what i ever sewed comes from there. LOVELY fabric for accepteable money.

hope to meet you once in reality (maybe at the fleamarket :-)

lots of love

ralf

1 Reply

Sure why not! The flea market is on the bridge at- ah, looking at map- between kotbusser tor and shönleinstr. It goes along the Maybach Ufer. Every Tuesday and Friday until 6pm. It also has fantastic fruit and veg and if you go slightly later (like I do after work) they start getting crazy with the fruit and veg, almost giving it away. The Fabrics are a really mix of tat and quality… some nice silks and cottons. You just have to have an eye for what you want I think and also make sure the quality is not so off. I noticed that the patterns are sometimes off printed but I feel it adds a little something more!!

28 May

3 March

That is a beautiful blouse! I was too lazy to even think of making it. I read the instructions about a hundred times and finally it hit me! I think.

OK, so you have two front bands (piece #3) – 0ne for the left front shirt opening and one for the right front shirt opening. You also have piece “a”, called “right buttonhole band”.

This shirt has a button in the collar, and 4 buttons below that (look at the technical drawing and the picture of the shirt). Then you have 3 more buttons that are HIDDEN underneath a layer of fabric, down to the hem! That’s what piece “a” is for! So that these buttons will have buttonholes. Piece “a” will be hidden underneath piece “3”.

So how do you put it together:

1. Stitch front bands to front and press seam allowances onto bands – you got that part, just don’t forget to press seam allowances on both (long) sides – the side that’s stitched to the shirt, and the side that’s currently attached to nothing.

2. Fold right buttonhole band (“a”) lengthwise right side facing in, stitch across top end, turn right side out and press – OK you got that part as well, right? This needs to be done on piece “a” and not piece #3!

3. baste buttonhole band (“a”) on self facing of right front band so that bottom end of buttonhole band (“a”) lies on bottom end of band (that’s the hem of the shirt) and the fold edge meets facing fold line. Explanation: Lay the shirt’s right side (as opposed to its left side), right side (as opposed to wrong side) facing up on the table. Take piece “a” (this is your hidden button hole band) and lay it so that the bottom end lies along the hem of the shirt, and the fold edge lies along the fold line of piece #3 AND the open end lies along the open end of piece #3! This way when you fold along the fold line, you will have 2 layers – one is the covering band (piece 3) that hides the buttons, and underneath it, on the inside, is the buttonhole band (“a”)! I hope I got this right.

4. Lay self facings outward on fold line and stitch to lower edge, up to band joining seam – not sure what they want here.

5. Turn bands (pieces #3) right side out and baste inside edges in place. Topstitch bands close to joining seam. Explanation: This is the part where you make everything pretty. When you open the top buttons of the shirt, and the wrong side shows, you don’t want the seam allowances of the front bands (piece #3) to be seen. So you baste them inwards and sew along the outer seam which you stitched in step 1, and this way the inside looks (almost) as pretty as the outside.

OK I hope this helps! And I hope I got it right! Maybe I’ll make this shirt as well and if I do I’ll send pictures.

24 February

For some reason unknown to mankind I am sewing the pants from Burda magazine Sept 2009 – style 113 – seen on pages 13 and 14. The zipper starts far away from the crotch, and the pants sit extremely high. Why do they make them like this? Anyway, I’ve only got to redo the waistband + button and do the hem. There’s so much about pattern adjusting I don’t know! If I find a good book on pattern making I’ll be sure to get it because I do wish to be able to cope better with pattern adjusting and controlling the end result.

After having a hell of a time sewing my pants (waist too large, too many adjustments and now the pants are too tight, my finger has been sewn clean through, I don’t feel like fixing the pants and I am NOT happy!) I found this tutorial about how to choose your size:

8 February

Thanks for the tips on the plastic and the sign-on idea. My son has just started Prep year at another school and they use photos with names underneath and magnet strips on the back. The kids find their card on the table and place it on the magnetic board nearby when they arrive. I like that idea too — similar to yours. Gerry

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